any of ya'll getting ready for dormancy?

[spikef35]

Personally im waiting for November how about y'all?

[esp_imaging]

Its been warm, sunnny and dry for the last 10 days, so have kept watering.
Will get most of the plants in from the garden this weekend before rain forecast for Monday.
They may stay indoors for the winter unless we have another warm spell.

[Steve Johnson]

Personally im waiting for November how about y'all?

In my part of LA the growing season usually lasts well into November. While I do see activity tapering off some, the rest of the month should still be great, and our version of "Indian summer" can often provide enough heat for a gentle ease into dormancy around Thanksgiving. I'll have to keep an eye on what my fall growers are up to these days. To answer your question -- the only thing I'll be waiting for is to see if my Ario fissuratus gives me a repeat performance after the plant produced its first flower last November.

[spikef35]

nice i discovered mealys today have any ideals for imidacloprid based non fertilizer pesticides you can find a box stores?

[greenknight]

Getting ready? I stopped watering 2 weeks ago! Moved the cacti onto the porch to keep them out of the rain, though we haven't had much. I'll take them indoors when a hard freeze threatens.

I use soap solution for mealies. Not as easy, but it works if you're persistent.

[Aiko]

Dormancy? I just finished waking up my winter active plants a few weeks ago!

[spikef35]

Just plan ole dish soap? If so I'll mix malathion in to the soapy water

[greenknight]

I use Fels-Naptha laundry soap, very effective and super cheap. Safer sells a soap blended with pyrethrin, but it's pretty expensive.

As for dormancy, it's still warm enough that I could be watering - but if I don't get my cacti dried out before the rainy season hits, they stay wet for a long time in the cool, humid conditions.

[iann]

September has been good drying weather for the cacti.

[7george]

Brought my outside cacti into the house last Friday. Most look dormant.

I may still give some of them a drink or two but it will be enough time for these to get dry until winter. And the minimums inside are not lower than 15°C most days, so this is not real "wintering". I have no cold rooms inside.

[tudedude]

In San Diego CA I stop watering my pampered ones in November. The rest I let get rained on all winter long, which isn't much due to droughts. I let the strongest survive. I planted about 30 lithops in the ground 5 years ago. Last I checked about 6 remain. Most were killed off by rodents, slugs, and locusts. We shall see what survives this years Godzilla El Nino.

[graffiti]

Hell, I live in a little river hollow and I had a frost on Sept 27th.

So yeah, everything from the Streptocarpus to my cacti are inside. My plants were all pretty fat, so I'm letting them dry at this point. Probably give them one more sip of water in a week or two before putting them to bed in a month or so.

[greenknight]

It's supposed to get above 80* f today, pretty unusual for this late. I moved the cacti back out in the yard for a dose of sun.

[cactidan]

Trying to get mine dried out and ready, the weather hasn't completely played ball around here though. So while some are getting there I still have a few plants producing new flowers, such as my Gymno baldianum p127 and a mamm fraileana.

[RichR]

Here in south central Texas it has been in the 90s through September and is forecast to stay in the 90s for at least the first two weeks of October. I am still watering plants and they are still growing. I will probably taper off the watering later in October when our highs are in the 70s. My echinopsis hybrids are still producing buds.